The Uttarakhand High Court has added a new dimension to the ongoing political crisis in the State. To order the Assembly to go in for a floor test when the State is placed under President’s rule is, to say the least, unprecedented.
Yes, the Assembly has been kept under suspended animation but the Harish Rawat Government was dismissed when the notification under Article 356 was issued. Yet another ambiguity in the High Court order on Tuesday concerns the nine rebel legislators of the Congress Party.
In an unusual decision, the Speaker of the Assembly had disqualified them after the imposition of the Central rule. That order was untenable given that once the Assembly was placed under suspended animation he ought to have refrained from proceeding against the rebels under the anti-defection law.
On Tuesday, the High Court ordered that the nine should be allowed to take part in the floor test but their votes be kept separate. What that means remains vague, though the implication is clear that the Speaker’s action in disqualifying them has not met the court’s approval. However it is puzzling as to what the floor test on the floor of the Assembly is meant to prove.
On Friday, when the Assembly is to hold the floor test, in the absence of a government it would be hard to figure out the nature of such a test. It is quite possible that in order to win back the rebels the Congress Party might dangle the carrot of chief ministership to the leader of the rebels and thus ensure that they vote with the party.
In any case, unless the Centre goes in appeal against the High Court order before Friday and gets a stay on it, there is bound to be intense horse-trading between the pro- and anti-Harish Rawat groups. The very fear of trading in MLAs which was one of the key factors for the imposition of Central rule would come true unless there is a stay by a higher bench against Tuesday’s High Court order.
It is interesting that the High Court did not dispose of the writ filed by the former Chief Minister Harish Rawat challenging Central rule while ordering the floor test. Given the highly controversial nature of the judicial order, a fresh development before the floor test on Friday cannot be ruled out.
